Explanation:
Revisiting one of the most
famous nebulae in
planet Earth's night sky,
astrophotographer
Robert Gendler has constructed this stunning,
color-enhanced mosaic
of the region surrounding the
Great
Nebula in Orion.
As seen here, the
clouds of Orion are dominated by the
reddish emission nebula M42
near the bottom of the image,
with blue reflection nebulae, including
NGC 1977, near the top.
Strewn with dust lanes and dark nebulae,
the striking cosmic apparitions
surrounding Orion's
stellar nurseries are about 1,500 light-years away and are
themselves several light-years across.
Located at the edge of a giant molecular
cloud complex
spanning hundreds of light-years, these nebulae represent only a small,
but very visible(!), fraction of this region's wealth of
interstellar
material.
Within these colorful clouds of Orion,
astronomers have also
identified what appear to be numerous
infant solar systems.